Jonna Sundling and Lucas Chanavat win Davos freestyle sprints; Finns struggle

Sweden’s Jonna Sundling captured the women’s freestyle sprint at the World Cup in Davos, Switzerland. She won qualifying and then every knockout round, edging Norway’s Mathilde Myhrvold by 0.08 seconds in the final. Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich took third, with Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist fourth, Linn Svahn fifth, and Germany’s Laura Gimmler sixth.

Finland had a difficult day in the women’s race. Jasmi Joensuu was the only Finn to reach the semifinals and finished third in her heat, missing the final. There was drama in the first semifinal when Norway’s Kristine Stavås Skistad was disqualified for impeding Fähndrich, which advanced Linn Svahn.

In the men’s freestyle sprint, France’s Lucas Chanavat continued his strong form by winning qualifying, his quarterfinal, semifinal, and the final. Italy’s sprint star Federico Pellegrino closed fast on the finishing straight but Chanavat held on by three hundredths of a second. Norway’s Oskar Opstad Vike finished third, with Americans Jack Young and Ben Ogden fourth and fifth, and Sweden’s Edvin Anger sixth after an early mishap out of the start in the final. Finns Lauri Vuorinen, Joni Mäki, and Niilo Moilanen reached the quarterfinals but were eliminated there.

The live coverage also summarized other Saturday results: - Ski jumping (World Cup, Klingenthal HS140): Slovenia’s Domen Prevc won ahead of Austria’s Stefan Kraft and Germany’s Philipp Raimund. Finns Niko Kytösaho (31st), Antti Aalto (36th), and Vilho Palosaari (43rd) missed the second round. - Biathlon: Finland’s women placed fourth in the relay, anchored by Suvi Minkkinen; Tuomas Harjula finished 25th in the men’s pursuit. - Alpine skiing (St. Moritz downhill): Rosa Pohjolainen was 43rd; the race was won by Emma Aicher ahead of Lindsey Vonn (as reported in the live blog). - Figure skating (Finnish Nationals): Olivia Lisko led the women after the short program and Valtter Virtanen led the men.

Overall, Davos sprint victories went to Sundling and Chanavat, while Finnish cross-country skiers fell short of the finals on a tough sprint day.